Born on a Mountain, Raised in a Cave: The Cave-Aged Cheese Tour

Participating Farms:

Farm Tour Details:

Every Wednesday afternoon

Duration is approximately 3 -4 hours

We first head down the road to Fairview and Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery, a truly special place conceived of by artist Victor Chiarizia. The handmade cheese created by Victor and his staff reflect traditional techniques with a flair of ingenuity. Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery is the only creamery in Western North Carolina that ages cheese in a natural rock-wall cave carved out of the land. Victor’s artistic talent also makes itself known with his glass sculptures that decorate the landscape. Visitors receive a guided tour of where the cheese is made, visit the cave where the cheese is aged, and are rewarded with a tasting of some of the creameries best cheeses. A visit to Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery is guaranteed to be an unforgettable experience. Victor’s cheeses are available for purchase and you may bring your own wine to enjoy during the cheese tasting.

Next stop is Round Mountain Creamery, a picturesque dairy goat farm where they raise both Alpine and La Mancha goats with love and produce Grade A goat's milk and fresh goat cheeses. Visit the milking parlor, meet the goats, see the bottling and cheese making operations and enjoy a cheese tasting.

Farmers & Flavors of Appalachia Tour

Participating Farms:

Farm Tour Details:

We meet at 9:30 for the tour and head north to Madison County, known as the “Jewel of the Blue Ridge”, it offers visitors majestic natural beauty combined with a rich Appalachian heritage of farming and traditional music.

Our tour usually starts at beautiful Highgate Farm where produce, as delicious as it is beautiful, is grown following organic practices in a reclaimed old tobacco field. During certain seasons there will be over eight types of lettuce and over eight different types of peppers in the field.

Our other stop on this tour is either East Fork Farm or Carolina Bison Farm, both places are a joy to see. Carolina Bison offers the opportunity to get up close and personal with Buffalo, Watusi cattle, and Camels! East Fork Farm is a beautiful farm where they raise laying hens, chicken, sheep, beef, trout, cattle and rabbits. To top it off they have a working gristmill where they grind heritage corn into corn meal and grits. Both locations have products available for sale.

The last stop of our day is a visit with Chef Sebastiaan at his homestead and 1oo year old farm house. He and his wife Ariel follow organic practices in raising fruits, vegetables, chickens, rabbits and bees. After a tour Chef Sebastiaan prepares a delicious, fresher than fresh, Farm To Table lunch with ingredients from his homestead and some of the other farms you visited. We eat this fabulous meal alfresco in the beautiful garden as long as the weather holds.

Cheese, Glass, Flower Blast : Fairview Experience Tour

Participating Farms:

Farm Tour Details:

First settled around 1783, Fairview, only slightly larger than six square miles, is an area rich in history, beauty and multi generational farming

Our first stop is the very special Flying Cloud Farm where they grow vegetables, berries, and flowers using sustainable methods without the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides.

Next stop is Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery a truly special place conceived of by artist Victor Chiarizia. The handmade cheese created by Victor and his staff reflect traditional techniques with a flair of ingenuity. Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery is the only creamery in Western North Carolina that ages cheese in a natural rock-wall cave carved out of the land. Victor’s artistic talent also makes itself known with his glass sculptures that decorate the landscape. Visitors receive a guided tour of where the cheese is made, visit the cave where the cheese is aged, and are rewarded with a tasting of some of the creameries best cheeses. A visit to Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery is guaranteed to be an unforgettable experience. Victor’s cheeses are available for purchase and you may bring your own wine to enjoy during the cheese tasting.

For lunch, we visit either the Straightaway Cafe or Roots and Fruits

Straightaway Cafe, a cafe, pub, and music venue set in the twisted pastoral farmland of highway 9 is about fostering community with humans near and far using our passions for good music, good food, and good service. We do five free family-friendly music shows a week. We're proud to serve local meats and produce

Roots and Fruits mission is to help build a local food community by working with local farmers and producers to supply a small neighborhood market. At less then a quarter acre they've created the garden as a large educational part of their business. Not only do they produce enough food to sell in the market and cook in the kitchen but it demonstrates where food actually comes from, the earth. They use organic practices and many permaculture based concepts, raise chickens for eggs, grow annuals, perennials, fruit trees, and grow all year long through large and small hoop house cold frames.

Between 3:15 and 3:30 we are back in the van for a 3:45 -4:30 arrival back in Asheville

The Art & Agriculture Adventure Tour

Participating Farms & Artists:

Farm & Art Tour Details:

This wonderful tour is a collaboration between Art Connections and Asheville Farm To Table Tours

Every Saturday afternoon

Duration is approximately 4 hours

Saturday tours begin at 1PM where we start by visiting one of the areas’ local pottery studios! Artists are passionate about sharing what they do. We’ll meet the potter and get a guided look at the studio where both functional and decorative ceramics are created. This will be an opportunity to learn some of the processes the artist specializes in.

Next we head to one of two wonderful local creameries, either Round Mountain Creamery or Looking Glass Creamery. Round Mountain Creamery is a picturesque dairy goat farm where they raise both Alpine and La Mancha goats with love and produce Grade A goat's milk and fresh goat cheeses. Visit the milking parlor, meet the goats, see the bottling and cheese making operations and enjoy a cheese tasting.

An Asheville Farm to Table Tour Makes the Perfect Gift!

Visit Appalachian Family Farms

Enjoy a personally guided experience as you and a small group discover unique family farms in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Meet Local Farmers

Gain a true appreciation of where food comes from when you meet the farmers and their families of beautiful Western North Carolina.

Taste Local Food

Food never tasted so fresh and delicious as when you enjoy it straight from the farms you visit.

What Our Customers Are Saying:

We had a great day with Anne on the farm to table tour. . My boys really enjoyed seeing all the baby animals. The last farm was a small vegetable farm owned by a chef and his wife. He made us a DELICIOUS lunch all from his garden or local farms. We all enjoyed the tour including my 13 and 11 year old boys. Read full review at Trip Advisor

What a fantastic tour to Asheville area farms! We were treated to tastes at the farms and then ended with a great lunch. The farmers were wonderful and made time to answer questions. What a great addition to Asheville tourism !

I had a wonderful time visiting three great farms in Madison county, the day could not have been much better really! Was lovely and relaxing and we ended up with full bellies, one of the best meals I've ever had...will definitely do it again and highly recommend.

Thank you so much for today... Just WOW! We really enjoyed the Farm to Table tour, and all that you put into making this a unique experience. From exploring a working farm, to watching cheese being made to having the combination of all three in an amazing meal prepared at a homestead. This will be an experience we won't forget.

Had a great time visiting a small ranch farm, a goat farm cheese creamery, and a homesteaded farm where we had a delicious meal prepared from all local veggies, meats, and cheeses. Family visitors plan to do this tour when they arrive this summer.

What a unique experience! Such a beautiful drive thru the countryside of Madison County which is easy to see fits the tag, "Jewel of the Blue Ridge". Sebastian, a young professional Chef from Holland and New York, prepared a delicious lunch for us in his kitchen that included ingredients from each of the farms we visited What a enjoyable day………Read full review at Trip Advisor.com

The tour of the farms was wonderful. Seeing the beautiful WNC countryside, hearing about the farms directly from the farmers and then enjoying a fantastic meal crafted from the local ingredients made for a very special day!

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Frequently Asked Questions

What all is included with a tour?

Tour includes guided transportation to three farms from the meeting place and back in a comfortable, air conditioned twelve person van . The farmers will take you on a personally guided tour of each of the farms. Many farms will have products from their farms available for purchase. Also included will be snacks, still and sparkling water and a delicious lunch prepared with ingredients from each of the participating farms.

What should I wear on the tour?

Please be sure to wear closed toed comfortable walking shoes or hiking boots. In addition, choose comfortable weather appropriate clothing. Sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses are also a good idea.

Do you offer discounts for large parties or private tours?

Yes, you can reserve the entire van for a private tour. Please contact us by phone or email and we can discuss the details and pricing.

Is gratuity included?

Gratuity is not included and although it is not required, we really appreciate any recognition of our great customer service.